Going back
by uselessfanficwriter
Summary: The Village Hidden in Leaves had fallen, leaving behind the perfect image of destruction, as the war progressed their numbers had dwindled down to almost nothing, leaving behind two lone shinobi and a mission to change things for better or worse. Shikanaru time travel (first redrafted chapter 1 2is up) 13/4/2020
1. Displaced

**_An altered vers of chapter 1 - 11/4/2020_**

He could feel the drain on his reserves, completing that Jutsu had taken a lot out of him, even more so out of Kurama who now lay within the seal gathering what remaining chakra he had left.

The fourth shinobi war had razed the village to the ground. The bloody, broken remains of what remained of the Leaf's shinobi expanded over a mass of rubble. The pungent smell of blood, lingered in the air, sticking to his clothing and ingrained itself into his memory. To his left was Shikamaru Nara, his chief strategist, and the only living being left under his command.

Naruto Uzumaki, the kyuubi jinchuuriki and Rokudaime Hokage was dying, and he knew it. A fate, to take the ideology of the hyuga he had long abandoned the beliefs, that had been unavoidable against a man of Uchiha Madara's caliber. Above him, the sky thundered, rain pouring down as the heavens cried outin agony.

"It was an honour to serve under your command Hokage-Sama."

His eyes welled with tears.

"Shikamaru... thank you" A choked sob escaped his lips, unable to comprehend that it was truly over, everything that he had fought for, the days that he had suffered, taking every hit and blow in a path to become stronger for his precious people, gone in a blink of an eye.

It was well known that a single death could affect an entire platoon of soldiers. When Tsunade fell, a domino affect had set into play, other kages faltered before attacking, fear spreading through their veins like cancer, anxiety causing a madness they couldn't escape from. But they payed for their fear with their lives. Akatsuki's attacks had been relentless, jutsus relentlessly tore down the hidden villages, the opposition leaving destruction and chaos behind.

He could feel his breathing slowing down, the tightness of his chest enhancing the pain from the wounds littered on his body, regardless of him being an Uzumaki blessed with healing factors and an extraordinary life force even he could not cheat death.

From the monsters of history it was known that humans did not respond well to death counts, especially if they were to high to comprehend. One death can immobilise a nation, thousands of death leaving a lasting impression, to be used for good or bad intentions. Konoha lost their will to live , their Will of Fire had diminished, leaving only a small flickering flame.

But he would never regret for a second the sacrifices that he had made. Would never taint the memory of the shinobi who had layed their lives down for him, to protect him. He would miss the chatter of children as they raced down the streets,the kings of Konoha, he would miss his friends, their beautiful smiles a ray of light whenever his found himself clueless of how he should move on but especially he would miss the warmth that they radiated.

"How pathetic! I wont after all this time be disgraced like this, you wont die Uzumaki, you'll go back and keep the promise you made me." Kurama growled from inside his and Naruto's shared mind space.

"How can you feel compassion for me now Kurama? There's nothing left if you wish for me to take the seal off then so be it," a sharp pain grasped his neck sending him into a coughing fit, yet he continued,"I stand by my words, I will not deny you your freedom."

"The useless emotions that dirty my heart are covered with dust, but you are the first to show me the understanding that each of my vessels have lacked, and so I will present to you a Jutsu which will enable you to stop this mayhem from happening"

He couldn't help the curiosity that had arose, he knew very well what the fox was talking about, but knew the dangers. Messing with the laws of space-time ninjutsu was dangerous, the ways that it could affect the universe was endless, but he was desperate. He mulled the idea over in his head before inquiring the opinion of Nara genius.

"I... it's a Jutsu from a demon created my the Sage of Six Paths, it must warrant some safety... it also seems to be are only choice left."

That it was.

"Do it." He told Kurama.

With no choices left, only a barren wasteland greeting him with each blink of his eyes, was there any risks left?

He had little time to think as chakra exploded from deep within the seal, ruining the landscape as pain filled screams filled the air only to disappear, leaving behind nothing behind.

A cough shuddered through his body. Blood stained hands gripped his abdomen in agony, the phantom pain of a kunai lay lodged between his ribs, a fierce attack he had once not been able to deflect, the helplessness of a time long forgotten, creeping up and threatening to swallow him . Naruto wondered if this was how he would die, cripples amongst the wreckage of a battle long lost,from when they had first been targeted. A humourless chuckle escaped his throat, everything had seemed worthless, all the agonising days he spent striving for their acceptance only to be thrown into a war in which he unprepared for the demons he would face. Something akin to mirth flashed in his eyes. Demons. For years he had been tormented by Kurama's presence, only for the fox to become his only living ally.

Pulled out of the murky depths of his mind, icey blue eyes slowly opened, white fluffy clouds painted on a cerulean sky greeted him. His breath hitched, they were back. A feeling of immense joy rushed through him, he could make it all better, he could save all of them of the fate that awaited them.

But firstly, he had to wake up the lazy Nara beside him.

"Shika!" The hyper blonde bounced over to his friend, "You lazy ass Nara get up, the jutsu worked!"

A groan left his lips as Shikamaru sat up, eyes peering over at Naruto in his orange jumpsuit and adjusted to his now chibi body.

He sat in utter bewilderment, how had they managed such a feat? It went against the laws of nature, he hadn't expected it to work, he anticipated death, one that he had so badly craved.

A vibrant smile maid its way onto Naruto's face, "We did it did!" As happy as they were, the now had to think logically, they had no clue as to whether or not their abilities had returned with them, and if they had, how would they hide then from their teammates? Their chakra signatures were still the same, but this would create problems, their jonin sensei's were very observant. Years of running while fighting for their lives left happiness sparse, sheer willpower and bullheaded determination replaced with a tactical mind merciless in its venture for safety.

"Judging by that, and the fact that are control has stayed so have our abilities, although our muscle memory has gone meaning that we will have to train."

The Nara's assessment was quick and thorough, urgency in his voice,they needed to get out of the training grounds lest the anbu patrols find them. Doubtlessly, they knew that there had been a rather significant surge of chakra resulting from their escapade to the future, antagonising the battle ready shinobi would be fruitless and instead would place the under unwanted scrutiny.

Looking at their appearance, they were lacking their forehead protectors meaning that they had not yet graduated, as an active shinobi they had rarely taken them off as they had no reason to.

Presenting them with yet another problem, with Naruto's previous control being abysmal and having graduated on a whim, because of convenient luck, hiding their newfound abilities from the future would prove fatal if not dealt with correctly. Konoha built it's reputation as a ruthless village, the strongest contender amongst hidden villages, from their genin to their anbu, no simple foolish excuse would work in their stead, seals would have to be drawn up and mistakes would not be tolerated.

All in all, extremely troublesome

Night however had now descended upon them, it was time to leave.

Somberly walking out onto the main roads, well lit and protected, their paths diverge, Naruto's taking him eastwards, home to the red light district and Shikamaru's taking him West towards the clan compounds,a short farewell had them parting ways, a look of exhaustion painting their features.

A restless sleep, spent with the ghosts of his past? Or was it the future? torturing him in the depths of dreams, a grasping,grappling phantom pain gripping him. Unable to run or hide or esca-

Blue eyes shot open, the cracks spreading across his room the only solace in the desolate room. Sunlight shone through his small window, the only source of heat in the bare house. The night had not aged well, he had tossed and turned in his bed hoping to sleep only to be plagued with memories assaulting him from every corner of his mind.

The ever present fear of being being trapped once more in the disdainful genjutsu, watching as the moon turned a frightening red, left his sleep fitful and agonising on his mind.

Every time his eyes closed, the sight of mangled bodies haunted him. The dark black oblivion had been replaced with crimson blood, the sound of anguished screams echoing in his ears.

A lone sigh escaped his mouth as he approached the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once ready, he began a slow walk towards the academy, anxiety flooding his veins with every step.He was late, the slow pace of his walk had ensured so, but even with the stalling, he found himself unprepared as the academy's doors loomed into view.

He wasn't prepared, wasn't ready to see the team he had fought with side by side as children, naive children unaware of the danger that lay ahead in their shinobi career.

He wanted to keep his love safe and would do anything to keep them safe. He tried to forget how everything around him everything became tainted, unlike Tsunade he didn't need a cursed necklace, his mere presence was enough. Now with his second chance he had to been braver and with a deep breath he steel his nerves and swung the door open, a fake grip on his face and his eyes shut tight.

"GUESS WHO GRADUATED, THE FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA BELIEVE IT."

Snickers erupted around him, some sneering at the thought of him graduating, believing that he had stolen the forehead protector as they had seen him fail the exam the day before. "Maa Naruto don't be so troublesome, get out of my way" Sticking his tongue out at the lazy preteen, he made his way to the row of desks.

Oh yeah.

Don't sit next to Sasuke,he remembered, there was no need to have a repeat of that incident. While he was all for joking around and sticking to the script, there was no need for rather disturbing "affections" as the boy's fangirls would have loved to describe it. He shuddered in dismay at the thought.

" EVERYONE SIT DOWN! I'm going to announce your teams, pay attention as I won't repeat myself."

Iruka's voice echoed in the classroom causing conversations to come to an abrupt halt, students eager to find out their teams. Naruto however had let his attention drift, more than half the teams wouldn't make it, most would drop out of them program all together. He did not feel the need to listen to something that was not relevant to him. No matter if he managed to change what laid ahead, some people, some children, could not adhere to the demands of the shinobi lifestyle, false illusions of being saved from assassins and treated like princesses would be shattered the moment their jounin sensei failed them. They would flee, unable to deal with the harsh reality, a option he was not fortunate enough to have.

"...team 7 Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." A loud screech caught his attention, he noticed Ino protesting about Sakura being placed with Sasuke, causing him to sigh once more. For the Yamanaka it should have been expected that tradition would be followed and she would be placed with the Akimichi along with a Nara. But peace had lead to the villages slacking genins graduating older and less prepared for warfare,with delusions set in place and an attitude that would get them killed.

Now he knew that the world,the time that they had left, was now against them. Unbeknownst to them,there was a field of predators waiting to attack their prey,to tear their aspirations to shreds and introduce them to the cruel world of being a ninja.

His heart hurt,as he remembered,Sakura's body left mutilated by Obito's hand,Choji unable to breath due to over working his body,Ino dying at the hands of Kabuto.His breathing was speeding up, he needed to get his thoughts under control. Looking up he realised amidst his breakdown everyone had left the classroom leaving team 7 behind.

He watched as Sasuke sat alone in the corner isolating himself, ignoring Sakura who was eagerly trying to start a conversation. He tried to reign in the hate that had latched onto him as he lay his eyes on the avenger, the foolish arrogance he had would lead to his death and many others.

Many had hoped that when Itachi had died Sasuke would return to the village having fulfilled his goal, but no he had run off with a group of missing nin, attempting to destroy Konoha. But his efforts were fruitless, his old comrades had long turned their backs on him and had attacked mercilessly, watching gleefully as he bled out.

Would it do any good to try and save Sasuke this time around? If he couldn't change within the short amount of time between now and the chunin exams, the consequences remained unspoken between the two survivors.

Sasuke would have to die.

Whilst in no way could they begin to play God, they had to realise that for Konoha they would m to pick the lesser of many evils. One death that would save thousands.

But nothing could commence until the true acceptance of their status. Waiting in the classroom continued at a torturing pace, allowing him to come to the conclusion that he would not prank Kakashi again,it'd benefit no one to have a headache caused by the kunoichi's screeching and subsequently give his sensei with a bad impression. Distantly he wondered, if Naruto had been more skilled would Kakashi have tried harder? Would he have been less inclined to disregard him? He shook his head of the thoughts,it wouldn't do him any good to feel bitter about events that now no longer happened, he would not tarnish the image of the admirable sensei who had died saving him.

But he felt as if someone had gripped his neck tight, cutting off his air flow when Kakashi stepped into the room, one eye curved into an eye smile, causing emotions he had tried to repress came spilling out like a tidal wave.

"Maa my first impression of you, is that you all seem disappointing."

The silver haired jonin made his way into the room, eyes examining the graduates in front of him. The last Uchiha stood with an arrogant look on his assessing him, before ultimately dismissing him. A foolish assessment by an equally foolish boy.

"Why don't we make our way to the roof and get to know each other?"

The genin slowly filed out of the room, Naruto contemplated walking up the wall to make things easier, but shook his head,if Kakashi became suspicious no doubt would be go running to the Hokage, sticking to the facade it was.

The three sat down on the staircase, Sakura in the middle with Naruto to her left, and Sasuke to her right.

"Sensei... why don't you go first? So we know what to say?"

"Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have few likes and dislikes, and I have no intention of telling you my dreams, now pinky why don't you start."

Sakura glared at the nickname but continued regardless, "I'm Sakura Haruno! I like Sasuke, I hate Ino and Naruto and ummm I don't know what my dreams are yet."

Naruto hoped he had been able to keep the disappointment off of his face. His pink haired teammate had been better company when she had grown. Training with Tsunade had caused her skills to flourish and had successfully broken her out of her fangirl ways, it was a pity that she was back to this reduced state.

Meanwhile Kakashi sighed, the standards of genin were decreasing everyday, it seemed as if kunoichis were less focused on becoming capable shinobi and more intent on finding the perfect 'husband'.

"Maa ok then, broody why don't you go next?"

Mirroring his teammate's previous expression, Sasuke replied, " I am Sasuke Uchiha, I have littles likes and dislikes, my dream... no ambition is to kill a certain man."

Naruto sighed, an ambition that would get him killed, Sasuke had been blinded by a lust for power and was deemed a hopeless case. Giving up on him was one of the hardest things that he done, but his lifestyle hadn't allowed him to mope for long, reluctantly he had moved on.

"Well then, lastly we have sunshine!"

Smiling brightly at the same, Naruto being his introduction.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ramen and Iruka sensei, I dislike people who hurt their precious people and my dream is to protect the people that I love by being Hokage!"

Kakashi gave him a final eye smile before explaining their test, which in turn had caused Sakura to shriek and Sasuke to gain a look of annoyance. He himself pretended to pale although he knew what it would entail.

Changing the bell test would not amount to much so he decided to let things play out as normal, however he needed to sort out what would happen during the chuunin exams.

Taking a page out of Shikamaru's book, things would be such a drag.


	2. Being normal, discussing plans

Altered vers 13/4/2020

Weeks of d rank missions had left Naruto drained, but his brief discussion with Shikamaru led to the decision that it would be better to not go on the wave mission. Whilst playing around with the thought of having Zabuza and Haku on their side, having Sasuke regaining his sharingan on the same mission had that line of thought scrapped.

The damned dojutsu made the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan mad for power, it's influence making Orochimaru's offer all the more enticing. The mission to wave had given Sasuke his Sharingan an event they had wanted to avoid, wave in their state of poverty and desperation,would not retract their request. The Great Naruto Bridge could wait.

Thus instead he settled to subtly prompt Kakashi to train team 7 for the chuunin exams. Even then he had to proceed with an excessive caution, there was little he could do while playing the part of the fool and undermining his squad leaders control would be fatal.

So thus, weeks of d ranks commenced, catching Tora was always annoying, paired with the facade he had to keep up he felt his patience wavering. He found himself wishing for a glass of wine, to drink his sorrows away until he couldn't remember the pain, but every good shinobi knew that dependency led to death.

Too many had allowed their desire to take control, dulling their senses and neglecting often life saving skills. Much like Tsunade once had.

"Team 7 reporting, Tora has been found and returned." Kakashi's low deep voice pulled him out of his musings, raising his eyes to see the Hokage nod his head at the jounin in front of him, and felt the gaze slowly shift to the surprisingly quiet blonde. Ah, he had not bothered him today, well, that would have to change.

"OLD MAN, get our sensei to move his lazy ass and train us! We'll never advance in rank at this rate! How will I ever be hokage?" Iruka, who had been handing out missions alongside the hokage, looked at the boy scandalised that he would talk to their village leader in such a way.

"Don't be foolish Naruto! You cannot talk to our Hokage in such a way, your sensei will teach you as he pleases!" But the two seniors only chuckled, acknowledging his request, albeit curious at the way he had phrased his sentence, he was oddly less demanding and seemed to be reasoning?

It was information that was filed away for later, no doubt Naruto would be kept an eye on, there was no telling whether or not the seal was serving its purpose, more worrying after the events regarding Mizuki and potential educational sabotage.

As the team was dismissed, Naruto had run out the Hokage tower in joy and went seeking for his favourite Nara. But not before changing into loose fitting white clothing, his now long hair flowing down his back. Hoping that his change in attire would stop people from noticing him and his "alcoholic" ways. A silly misunderstanding that could cost him more trouble than it was worth, the gossip mill spared no one.

He found him in an empty field, gaze set on the clouds covering a blue sky. Tugging impatiently, he dragged him towards the nearest bar, causing the other to roll his eyes.

Fortunately, with it still being the early afternoon the room was fairly empty, with only a few jonin littered here and there. They took a seat in the corner of the room with a bottle of wine accompanied with a bottle of sake each. A peaceful silence descended upon them as they sipped on their drinks lost in their talks. Unable to talk in the open about their plans and actions that they would have to take, they basked in the warmth of each other's presence, hands intertwined.

"How was it with your team?" He inquired seeing the bags under the other eyes. A tired sigh left the brown eyed boy as he recalled the events over the past few weeks, spending time with people that had previously been dea- no they were in public- people that he had not been around in years was tiring. Naruto could feel a lump forming in his throat as he tried to force his tears away, gulping down the wine hoping that even for a few mere seconds, it would wash away his worries, and burn the memories infecting his mind like it did to his throat.

'無限月読 ' Infinite Tsukiyomi, A dream to enslave, how could one enslave the nation when he had killed them all? Who would be left to power such a jutsu when Madara's foolish bloodlust had taken over? An aching pain settled in his chest, he failed Pein, hatred had only bred more hatred. As long as humans had roamed the earth the cycle would continue, a seed had been planted and its roots had spread.

The irony of the situation had not been lost on him, as much as he tried to preach about peace and forgiveness, it seemed as Konoha had bred the majority of the problems they would face. From Danzo's unlawful schemes behind his own leaders back and the isolation then massacre of a deadly clan, his beloved village had been no better than those whose name they spat upon, villainizing the actions they too carried out, ruling the village one lie at a time.

His mood changed minute to minute, every happy emotion was killed off when a feeling of self loathing settled in. How could he sit here completely fine unable to do nothing? He should be out there finding ways to help them train, but instead was confined due to the rules of logic unable to move as it threatened the peace and the timeline.

One step out of line would cause ripples throughout the shinobi world, leaving them with an unpredictable future. Every decision came with more and more dangers, and increased potential risks. Every discussion led to any small piece of hope being crushed, but they were hopeless, things had to change or the future would repeat itself.

Something neither of them wanted to happen.

On a sunday evening, the two time travellers found themselves in training ground 12, a routine they continued every morning and for a few hours before getting home. For Shikamaru leaving his house had been hard, his father had been suspicious as to where he was leaving so early as team training didn't start until 8 and he had gotten home hours later at 11.

Sooner or later he knew that Shikaku would piece together a theory, and with his plans to have Naruto come over so that they could plan further would only cement what he had in mind.

Focusing on the task at hand, the two genin unsheathed their weapons and began practicing with the use of training dummies.

Retaining their old kenjutsu skills had been hard, with bodies smaller and weaker they had to accommodate every move with their new figures. Training was strenuous but as they sparred it was visible that their training had satisfactory results.

"If theres anyone who can tell the difference between a sealing scroll and a kunai is my clan they're not stupid."

Shikamaru's words of kindness caused the fire within him to burn brightly.

Seeing the stern expression on his lover's face he knew that there would be no arguing with him and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to face the Nara clan head and his interrogation.

Trepidation filled him as Shikamaru waited for the doors to open, for his mother or father to greet him.

Thinking back on his decisions he realised his parents probably weren't aware that he was friends with Naruto.

Oh well, they would now.

"Shika-chan? Who's your friend?"

"His names Naruto, since it's late I was wondering if he could stay over?"

"Maa of course, come inside."

Since when had his son been close to Minato's child?

Shikaku would have prodded more, but he saw the two of them fumbling in the cold and quickly ushered them into the house, unable to ignore the undisguised fear in the blue eyed boy's eyes.

But fear of what? The genin, Kakashi's student he remembered, was known to be loud and boisterous, rarely showing that he was.

His stomach lurched, his Yondaime Hokage's son was afraid of him because of the civilians less than desirable behaviour. He cursed their ignorance as he kept his eyes on the two teens.

What was odd was the way they came in . His son flanked Naruto. As if he was guarding him.

Shikaku narrowed his eyes but said nothing when they took their shoes off and kept them in the provided space.

He found himself startled as he looked into the boy's eyes, orbs full of weariness and pain peered back at him.

What could have happened to make him have those eyes?

As he stood pondering, the boys rushed past eager to start planning knowing that sleep was a luxury they currently could not afford.

"The mission to wave hasn't happened in this timeline, what if Kakashi decides that we're not ready this time round?"

"No, Asuma and Kurenai will nominate meaning he wouldn't want his team to be seen as weak, his pride won't let him to do so, also if Sasuke doesn't encounter Orochimaru in some way the changes will be too drastic for us to know a counter."

"But that means there'll always be a likely chance that he'll defect. We can't change things even if we wanted to."

Naruto leaned back against the wall, the day had been draining and with all of this hitting him full force at once, the reality of things felt surreal. Drained of energy, the mental strain of having to simply cope taking its toll on his body, he let his body succumb to a fitful night of sleep.

When Shikaku went up to check on the boys he found them sound asleep, curled up against each other in a position that suggested that if there was danger they would be able to fight immediately.

He filed this information away for later and let a rueful smile spread across his face, it was nice knowing that the two were friends, cementing bonds amongst others that they had not yet worked with.

Thousands of theories filled his head, but he would wait until evidence presented itself and would hand pick one that would give him the answer.

The morning after

"Got your slip for the exams then?"

Truthfully neither had expected it to have come so quickly, again perhaps a reminder that they had been forced to adapt and progress far sooner than they were able to.

" Yeah! Kakashi pretty much handed ours the same as last time, no hinting at it being a whole team even."

Of course he wouldn't, even now years later he still wondered if it had been a test to see if they were ready.

Individually, had he been the same genin he had been at 12, with no skills to speak of and a lack of aptitude to being a shinobi, from a teacher's perspective would have wanted his students to think carefully about their actions. Sakura was still wrapped up in her delusions of being saved by Sasuke, the shining 'prince charming' image still clung to her, her sole purpose for being a shinobi. While textbook smart, she still lacked the strength to defend both herself and the village she pledged to protect.

Sasuke however was a different case, one that he knew would never be resolved. Ignorant to the sacrifice that his brother had made for him, his ambition drove him to insanity. A lust for power that negated any efforts to keep him loyal to the village that could offer him nothing.

For that he had silently resented Itachi. He understood deep down why the older Uchiha had done it, why he'd wanted it to be Sasuke to kill him but even after his death the younger had refused to see reason, mercilessly tearing through his former comrades ( had he ever considered them as such?) until he himself had died at the hands of Madara, yet another pawn in the grand scheme of things.

"Same with Asuma, it seems as if they're playing it off as a suggestion, which could probably be because we're still rookies and as prideful as they are, still understand the risks."

Another obstacle in their way was how to go about the exams, Naruto had no intentions of winning by fluke against kiba once more and if paired against Neji, he'd have rather be able to give the boy a fair fight then get the stick out of his ass.

The written portion would pass by the same as it had originally, knowing the true intent behind the last question there was no need for him to exhaust himself trying to answer the questions and possibly reveal too much.

"Neither Ino or Choji expect me to want to take the exams and it's too troublesome to try change that so Ino will be trying to convince us for the next few days to enter"

He laughed at that, trust him to slack of just to keep up appearances. Then again he didn't really have a choice so fair enough.

"My team don't really talk too much outside of missions and training so it's more of being sure that its an individual thing and we can go if we want"

"So you got lucky?"

"Basically."

Such was the fragility of team 7's barely there bonds, he admired Kakashi but the man could have done better at teaching them. When coming back from his training with Jiraiya, his input in developing the RasenShuriken had been valuable and his genius mind when it came to ninjutsu peeked through every word that left the jonins mouth. But with a genin team as unbalanced as they were, much was left to making them a workable unit, in simple terms he had his work cut out for him.

Strolling out of the training grounds, silently they took to the roof tops. Both doubted that the civilians would be particularly welcoming towards the demon vessel and whilst not outwardly aggressive nothing would stop them from glaring and taunting under their breaths just loud enough for only each other to hear.

The Nara clan compound came close into view, while impractical as a base with all the smarter than normal clan members and eyes that followed every move as discreetly as one could, it was inevitably also the safest place for them to speak freely.

With Shikaku tending to his duties as the head of jonin and his own clan, the house stayed empty. It seemed that the matriarch had also wandered from her home with something to do.

The two could hardly sit idle as they waited, further into the clans grounds the Nara estate had a forest that had restricted access, allowing for their more hidden abilities to be developed away from prying eyes.

Through travelling to the past, their physical and spiritual balance had been greatly thrown off, leaving chakra control shot to hell. Thus began their endless sessions of tree and water walking in hopes of reaching some sort of stability. Whilst Shikamaru didn't have nearly the same amount of chakra that Naruto did, his younger body still struggled with the burden of his adult reserves so adapting while necessary was exhausting.

Unprepared as they were, it seemed that problems kept on being attracted to them. They had no elemental ninjutsu in their repertoire, not one, the only genin to have been the Uchiha with his fire style taught by his father. Which again frustrated the Nara endlessly, people died in these exams, just what the hell had their teachers been thinking? Which only left himself to his clans jutsu, the basic shadow binding, the basic academy three and taijutsu. Naruto himself would have the obvious choice of weapons and kage bunshin but little else. Hardly was it possible for him to suddenly excel with hand to hand combat at Lee's level when his style had previously lacked structure and any thought behind his movements.

There was also the fact that they knew how to defend themselves against many of the styles, ingrained into their memory it was possible that they'd move entirely on instinct which could prove to be a problem if they hit didn't land due to them overestimating their height or strength.

All in all it was a drag and something that neither wanted to deal with, but with the threat of the invasion looming over their head there was nothing that either could do but train.

And so they did.


	3. Chuunin Exams Begin!

For a team of genin, it was compulsory that they would meet up for a minimum of 6 hours per working day. For Naruto this had not been a problem, it was more of a chance to prove that they could become chuunin. But would they be able to without having gone on a c-rank mission? Also, just how much of his power would he have to display?

Nevertheless, even if they had to be more secretive towards their actions regarding changing events, things had slowly been set into motion. Sasuke's lack of sharingan had the council demanding for him to be trained in ninjutsu and genjutsu to build up his arsenal, leaving his taijutsu to suffer as a result as they believed he was already on par with most chuunin and would be able to pass the exams with his current level. A foolish assumption that would only cause a hinderance to the genin and his performance.

Sakura had remained weak, disregarding the training plan that her teacher had set forward, the cyclops had failed to break her out of her fangirl ways. This would only be detrimental to her performance with her team, alongside with her foolish diet she had maintained to keep up her 'figure' the pink haired kunoichi was the least prepared for a shinobi lifestyle.

But with the exams steadily approaching, the kages of each village hastily prepared genin to show off their ranks and accomplishment. Years of turmoil had left Naruto with an impressive insight to the workings of the political influences, while the exams were an excuse for war it would be calamitous to their forces if they had sent in so many unprepared ninjas, cutting down their forces for years to come until another satisfactory graduating class.

It was one mistake that Konoha often made, as all three rookie teams had been nominated, they feared the deaths of clan heirs who had been thrusted into a fight without the proper guidance or mindset, simply for the village to boast.

The academy hallway swarmed with hopeful genin awaiting their chances to participate in the exams and bag a chance to advance in rank. But more than half the contestants would end up dead or would drop out later in the preliminaries. Out of the corner of his eyes, Konoha's kyuubi vessel could see candidates arguing with Izumo and Kotetsu who had cleverly hidden under a disguise using henge. He scoffed inwardly, if they had wanted a promotion, should they have not solidified their understanding of the basics? If one could not distinguish the difference between a henge and the true form of a person, how would they survive in a field were manipulation and deceit prevail?

Forcefully steering the raven haired boy away, Naruto led his team up to the third floor in silence ignoring their complaints. A poof of smoke startled the teens, as their teacher appeared before them.

" It's good to see that you're all here, even you Sakura!"

Tuning out the speech that awaited them, he waited until the man finished so that they could enter the examination hall.

Upon arrival, the genin were blasted with killing intent, however the silence and veil of intimidation was broken due to Kiba's voice as he sauntered his way towards his fellow graduates.

"I wouldn't have expected to see you lot here!" The brunette laughed boisterously causing a wave of sighs as they dismissed the taunt. In moments, the rookie 9 found themselves huddled together discussing the probabilities of the exams.

He could feel a wave of exhaustion overcome him, even now it was all still too much, after spending so much time adjusting to solely to his team, seeing everyone gathered together that hid him like a truck, there was a tingly feeling in his ribs that disappeared just as quickly as it had came. Leaning on Shikamaru, ignoring the curios looks thrown their way, his eyes narrowed as he spotted Kabuto making their way towards them.

Years of training his senses made him notice the horrid stench of snake that lingered around the long haired genin. A sneer formed on his face, a traitor had been in their midst, and they had been unaware to the obvious signs allowing him to manipulate them into a false sense of comfort and protection.

He watched, eyes drooping as his teammate inquired about Gaara, watching as the information was offered, as he attempted to rile Sasuke up with the difference in power.

"Shouldn't you be keeping such information to yourself? Wouldn't it increase your own chances?"

Fighting back a chuckle at the Nara's words, he let his eyes drift to the front of the room, once more ignoring the chatter and cries of indignation. A wisp of smoke alerted them that Ibiki had arrived, ready to start the first test.

It had seemed that things had already began to play out differently, whereas last time he had been placed next to the meek hyuuga heir, this time round he found him self placed next to a suna genin he did not know the name of.

The clock ticked as the time passed, he watched observing the fairly obvious ways of cheating, ranging from the use of dojutsu's to Tenten's mirrors. Looking down at his own sheet, he could now realise that these questions, no matter how skilled the genin, would only be able to be answered by an elite chuunin. Although Sakura could be an exception due to her talent in book smarts.

It wouldn't do for him to leave his page empty, although he knew the tricks of the game, staying idle would arise suspicion amongst the proctors which he could not have happening, so why now have some fun and drop some subtle clues?

His pen glided across the page, creating an image provoking laughter from the whiskered teen, carefully he placed pictures as clues that the untrained eye would not be able to understand.

"... You can choose to leave and never be permitted to take the exams again!"

A smile crept up onto his face as he noticed that Sakura had not doubted him this time round, well it may have been due to the fact he had chakra strings holding her hand down but then again who had to know that?

Morino Ibiki prided himself on not being able to be caught off guard, yet when he came upon the Uzumaki brats paper he found his eyes widening, a sense of dread overcoming him.

Instead of answering the questions, the blond have taken to drawing. A picture of a grand forest littered with snakes slithering up the branches, but most intriguingly they all seemed drawn todays the centre of the page. Towards the drawing of three tomoe.

His breath hitched, if what had been implied aas true then Konoha had a nuke nin within their ranks, within their exam where genin would be left unattended to survive by themselves. But the question arose, How did a mere genin get his hands on such information?

He would have to see the Hokage immediately.

Tipping off Ibiki had not originally been apart of his plans, no they had decided to quietly dispose of Kabuto during the exams, leaving a shadow clone each wth their teams until they returned.

The abrupt change caused Shikamaru to hit him on the head and for complains of a headache to come tumbling out of his mouth.

However with the village being aware of Orochimaru's presence they reasoned that Anbu would be able to reach them faster, increasing the chances that they would be able to reach the tower with Sasuke being unmarked.

It was a necessary change, if things played out right they reasoned that with Sasuke's thirst for power the sound four would still come after him, something that they would be ready to intercept.

Although there was the new added responsibility of having to come up with a way to evade the hokage's attempts to find out how exactly Naruto got the information.

However that was a headache for later, the exams were about to begin and they both had to be ready to make changes, the first of which would be made in the forest the were entering.

 **The Forest of Death.**

 _The threads of time had been spun,the changes that would mark the outcome of their future began now._


	4. Boy meets evil, filler chapter

_The light of my future is dimming, I had always believed that I knew the path that I would carve for myself. One full of happiness and self worth, a dream I would relentlessly pursue putting my blood sweat and tears into it regardless of what they had to say to me, of what I was. I would make my own fate not letting my self be treated as a puppet. For as long as I lived there would be no strings attached, only strong bonds made from perseverance of a faithful ninja._

 _Because of my childish love, I lost my way on a path of dreams, my mind would constantly wander and think of him. Of the life that we could have together, full of a sweet devotion, the thought of it had me reeling. It was a dream so tempting that I found myself chasing after it, loosing sight of my previous desires._

 _The venom of my ambition, I sharpened my knife every day, crafted every word to perfection leaving no room for imperfections. I was treading on dangerous waters, chasing after someone that I knew well out of my reach. But every time my gaze came upon him, the extinguished fire within me began to burn again._

 _But because of my uncontrollable greed, my knife became dull, I found myself distancing myself from my team. Seeking ways to be given missions requiring his skill so that we could work together, but doing this so often had caused Tsunade to notice, every time i asked her eyes would flash with curiosity along with an emotion I failed to recognise._

 _"I know it all." The confession had startled me to the point I had almost lost my balance on the branches as we were travelling. But my shock was short lived as I found that he was talking about the Kyuubi and not my secret feelings for him. Regarding him carefully, I saw that there was not a hint of hatred in his eyes but rather acceptance. His posture remained relaxed._

 _Shikamaru Nara would always be a genius._

 _This love is another name for the devil, when I found myself in his presence I would feel tortured. I could not reach out a hand to caress his soft cheeks leaving my hands twitching in want, my heart would ache for hours on end, a pain chocking me leaving me breathless._

 _Don't hold her hand. I stared at the petite girl infront of me. Hinata Hyuuga. I was aware that the girl had a crush on me, she had ever since I had stood up for her a few years ago. It was endearing but now was proving to be a nuisance. With all my friends encouraging her she had seemed to grown a back bone and decided to ask me out, but I didn't share her feelings, I could never love her like she would me. But I was a fool for them, for there acceptance and found my self intertwining my hands with hers, and placing a soft kiss onto dusty red cheeks. His eyes never left mine._

 _I shouted but turned away from my conscience, tearing up any sense of sanity that I had left. The feeling was back, of a hollow emptiness leaving me unable to make sense of anything around me. My desires fuelled hateful thoughts that swirled in my mind, telling me to leave her and take the love I wanted, that I deserved._

 _I feel the sharp reality more every day, with every sweet nothing I found myself whispering into ears a piece of me would die leaving a hollow shell in its place. I couldn't take it anymore, ruining such an innocent person, tainting her with lies and a false sense of love. I made myself feel sick._

 _There's red blood from being torn apart by reality, every moment of realisation would cause a rip in my psyche, a river of hate flowing through. It was a midsummers night in which I left her, self loathing flowing in my veins as I watched tears flow down her cheeks onto the cold hard down. But a small selfish part of me didn't care, a part of me that grew causing me to turn away and leave without looking back._

 _I never thought that the greed would become the trumpet heralding hell. Finally I held his hands in mine. My mind a haze clouded with lust as I crashed my lips against his, full of desire and a burning passion._

 _BREATH_

 _My breath is getting shorter, my hands roamed his lithe body, basking in his beauty. A small smile crept onto my lips as my name tumbled out of his mouth, the souf of short pants filling the room. The game we had played, chasing after each other but ignoring for our duty was over. Claiming what was mine left me on an unexplainable high._

 _I closed my eyes every night from the twisted reality, willed my mind to focus on something other than the life I was living. Craved for a safe haven, away from the glares of thousands that set me alight, from the blood that stained my hands and the disappointment that followed me wherever I go._

 _The music box of tragedy echoes in the distance, for a short time I had escaped the clutches of madness. My mind sated by my recent achievement, a small flicker of pride bloomed in my chest._

 _But in order to be free from this crime, of a guilt that encased me whenever I saw him leave his family compound a look a frustration of his face would take decades. Single handedly I had torn a family apart due to my selfish desires, leaving them with no solution regarding a clan heir and yet they remained supportive. What had I done in this lifetime to deserve such kindness?_

 _It's impossible to forget and give up, so I offered a solution. Be it adoption or surrogacy, I was unwilling to give up something I had worked so hard for. My inner turmoil was put to rest after weeks of discussion, a final decision had been reached. He would not have a sacrifice his love._

 _Because those lips were too sweet, for him to simply leave as commanded. If he had to sweat blood from pain he had to endure he would do so. I could here the sound of the door closing, and through it entered my angel, a look of exhaustion colouring his features. Silently I cursed him for being so smart, the shinobi world would exhaust every advantage they had to give them the upper hand and the Nara was no exception._

 _I threw my future away because I was drunk on dating, the dream of being Hokage had long faded with my need for stability with him overpowering everything else. People around had mocked me, or rather us, I could hear whispers behind my back saying that I had changed, or that I was being foolish. However surprisingly, I couldn't find it in me to care, I was content with were I was, the longing for the powerful position have long faded becoming a shadow of my past._

 _This love was crazy good but it was also sweet. A sweetness eliminating the bitter taste on his tongue and a strength tearing down the walls around his heart._

He awoke startled, night after night he found himself tortured with nightmares, ripping apart his psyche. Paranoia infecting him like a poison, fear gripping onto his heart mercilessly pushing, his lungs deprived from air as his breathing slowed, as his vision blurred under the pressure of his crumbling mind.

He would succeed with his plans regardless of what was thrown at him, but every second chance, every act of mercy came at a price.

 _The price for his was his life._

 ** _A/N Written based of the translation of the song Boy meets evil by J-hope._**


	5. Hiruzen's view

Hiruzen Sarutobi was no fool.

There was a reason why he was hailed as the God of Shinobi, ranging from his vast knowledge of Jutsu to his undeniable successful battle tactics. Coming from the first generation of ninjas produced by Konoha, aling with being trained under one of the finest Hokage's, he rarely found himself baffled, years of experience had prevented him from outwardly expressing his discomfort.

But the sharp intake of breath when his eyes settled upon Naruto's drawing was heard by few subordinates in the room.

If there was one thing that he mourned above all, it was his foolish desicion to let his student live. Upon stumbling across the lab, filled with children who had been used for experiments other _vile_ unspeakable things, he had felt betrayed. Where had his diligent student gone?

But even with sick feeling settling at the bottom of his stomach, he let Orochimaru run, allowed him to become a threat to the village he fought so hard to protect.

"Owl, go get me Danzo."

No longer would he play the fool, he would have to approach the situation delicately but effectively. Alerting the snake of his plans wouldonly antagonise him into doing things far worse than he had planned.

He was alert, old age could not keep the adrenaline from flowing through his viens, there were important genin ar risk in that exam and if his former student was in the forest as the image implied, then he would have to make a move fast.

Just what was he planning?

In his rushed state, it slipped his mind as to how the drawing had got their in the first place...

 _Without them knowing, Naruto's genjutsu slowly set into place. With a combination of a Yamanaka's memory removal jutsu and altering the image, he successfully diverted the attention away from him._

It is unusual that you call for me Hiruzen, why is now that you require my existance?"

"It has come to my attention, that someone had breached the exams."

A thin gray eyebrow rose, _that_ was troubling news, that would have to be rectified immediatly.

"And by _who_ exactly?"

"Orochimaru."

A chilling wind swept through the Hokage office, the utterance of that mans name left a bitter tase in their mouth.

"I know that you had not gotten rid of your root anbu Danzo, and be aware the only reason I have not executed you for treason is because its existance was a necessary evil that benifited the village."

It seemed that his rival had not been oblivious, a small smirk spred across his face.

Maybe the village _would not_ perish under the Sandaime second reign.

 ** _No longer would Hiruzen be a pawn, he would rid Konoha of the taint upon its history._**

 ** _Like the pieces on a shogi board, Hiruzen made his first move._**

 **A/N Small update while I try to figure my shit out and write an actual good chapter about out Time travellers.**

 **Next chap should be forest or to the one month time skip, is their anything you would like to read about/have written? Leave your requests in the reviews**

 **(I suck at writing dialogue)**

 **4/9/18**


	6. First person view: I'm not ok

I could feel their eyes on me, to them it was unusual that I wasn't out of breath. Sasuke had forced us to run through the forest in hope of finding opponents to fight against so that we would be able to capture a scroll.

It was a foolish desicion, but with his insistance on being team leader I knew that resistance was futile, it didn't matter anyways, going against him meant dealing with Sakura's shrieks, something that my raging headache would not be able to withstand.

I tried to stop it, the thoughts that constantly plauged my mind, that they wern't the same team that I had grown with. That they wern't the team that I had fought with through thick and thin, who learnt of the harsh reality of the shinobi world by my side.

But it was so _fucking_ hard. Everytime my eyes would lay on them an image of strong shinobi would overlap, an image of someone who did not yet exist, may _never_ exist.

All because I wouldn't let them to.

I knew, for Gods sake I knew, that everything that they had gone through shaped them into the fine ninjas that they had become, but their were other ways.

Needlessly their hands had been tainted iwth the blood of innocents, and it had all been my fault. Without a second thought they had layed their lives down for me, savrificing themselves for a greater good. Only for me to fail them.

"We should leave this area and make our way west, I saw some Mizu genin."

 _His_ voice snapped me out of my musings, even after all this time, it was hard to get over all of the things that Sasuke had done to us. We all naively believed that if he had killed Itachi it would have sated his desire for pwer, believing that surprassing his brother had been his ultimate goal, but we had never been so _wrong._

The avenger had gone and created his own group of missing nin and became a threat for Konoha. I scoffed inwardly when I remembered his claim, that he wanted yo become **_Hokage._**

Someone so selfish and poisoned with hate could never be a leader, would never be able to see right or wrong and live with the sole reason of existance being to _protect_.

 _"In the shinobi world, those that break the rules are deemed as trash, but those that disregard their comrades are worse than trash."_

He would remember and teach his sensei's words until the day that he died.

He would never let that _scum_ be hokage, Uchiha Sasuke would not become a threat to Konoha, not if he could help it.

Shikamaru's view.

"Get up lazy ass, we'll never make it to the tower at this rate."

Ino's shrill voice caused a ringing in my ears.

Not once since we had arrived had I been able to look them in the face, everytime I would i felt like I couldn't breath.

My fears were irrational, they _were_ real, even after several attempts of trying to dispel a genjutsu that may have been placed, ultimately I came to the conclusion that _no_ they would not disappear.

But I wasn't okay and couldn't keep pretending that I was, everytume I had to fake a lazy posture or look of annoyance, there would be a knot in my stomach, being pulled from either side making me feel sick.

 _I was decieving them._

No longer was I the innocent little boy that they once knew and grew up with, I wasn't the fresh genin that needed his teachers guidance to make his way through the first steps of his career.

No, I was a war veteran and my lies could only hide so much.

Ino was no blonde bimbo, being a Yamanaka she picked up on the signs that I had changed, and out of the corner of my eyes I could always see her glancing at me in worry.

 _It was all just so troublesome._

I didn't know how to deal with them anymore, they just wern't the same people, and I didn't know if I could come to terms with that.

I'm-

 _We're not ok._


	7. Chuunin exams continue!

Kabuto ran through the trees with a practised ease, his teammates not far behind, as they began their search for the last Uchiha.

The dense forest provided decent cover for the disguised genin ad they weaved through the hidden traps layed out by chuunin hopefuls. Orochimaru had ordered him to assess the boys skill and leave him alive, the genins lack of his family's bloodline left him witha problem, his plans to advance could not proceed until it activated or else taking his body would be pointless.

Finding the boy however would be easy, headstrong and arrogant, the raven haired boy believed his companions to be beneath him thus ignoring their suggestions or plans no matter how useful they were.

A smirk made its way onto his face, it would be fun to toy with him, to rip his confidence to shreds and let the snake sannin mould him into a traitor. Enticing him with false promises of power and jutsu's that would allow him to kill his brother like he yearned.

Of course the boy would be allowed to grow skill wise, however only minutely so that he was lulled into a false sense of security, eagerly he picked up the pace.

 _He had an Uchiha to play with._

Now Naruto knew that letting Sasuke take charge was a bad idea, his blinded views of their skills would only put them in danger, but shit hit the dan as soon as night had fell.

Things were already beginning to change, instead of Orochimaru targeting them under the guide of a kusa kunoichi, Kabuto's team had appeared, all sense of friendship and camaraderie gone.

"Kabuto-san!" Sakura was horrified, she hadn't believed that a leaf village ninja would attack one of its own, but she failed to realise the silver haired nins true intention.

"I'm afraid were running out of time Sakura-chan, and a fresh genin team is and _easy_ target."

Anger boiled in Sasuke's viens, how dare that _thing_ underestimate him? He was the last Uchiha, that dirt was not worthy enough to fight him.

But while these thoughts were running through his head, the kyuubi jinchuuriki wanted to smack some sense into the other boy, his views were haughty and distainful, and would cause more trouble than he was worth.

A curse slipped from his mouth as his attention faltered, the ninja infront on him was no mere genin, rather an all rounder specifically proficient in medical ninjutsu.

While some would find this ineffective in a battle, Naruto knew from witnessing it first hand that his opponnets chakra scapels could cause harm just as well as any other tool, no doubt he would use it to his advantage. But with their team 'lack' of knowledge (not including him) they wouldn't know how to properly defend themselves, and _he_ couldn't do anything flashy without is rising suspisions.

However their was one way that could slightly delay their attackers. Grabbing onto both of his teammates, he began to dragg them away and summouned shadow clones, ordering them to form a circle around the opposinf team.

" **Water Release: Wild Water Wave"**

Naruto cackled, spitting water directly into their faces would blur their vision allowing them to escape, _and_ just enough time to make shadow clones and _henge them into his teammates sending them in different directions ultimately confusing the other team._

 _Kabuto wasn't going to win this time._

 _ **\--Time skip to the preeliminaries-**_

Making it to the tower had been hell, alot of the genin from other villages had been smart, camping out near the tower and waiting to attack the approaching teams was a good plan, though against someone like Naruto with his use of _kage bunshin_ was useless.

That didn't mean however that slipping past them was easy, he had to subtly give Sasuke hints on how to get past _without_ causing a fight. Taking a leaf out of the sannins book, they slipped past the unsuspecting predetors like snakes in the grass.

Peering over his shoulder he noted that Shikamaru's team hadn't done so well. Judging by the injuries that they had sported, most likely they walked straight into an anbush.

Although there was a good chance that the Nara had _let_ that happened so that it wouldn't raise anyones expectation as a genin team arriving unscathed was unheard of. He snorted, how typical of the shadow user.

He listened as the Hokage droned on with his explanation of how the exams was a substitue for war and a prominent event that helped keep peace, coming to the conclusion that it was all bullshit and honestly couldn't believe that they fed that crap to shinobi.

No staged fight or supervised battlegrounds would stop villages from betraying one another, rather it was the ideal place for manipulation and for spies to be planted. A fact that Otogakure exploited and almost caused the downfall of Konoha.

Leaning against the faded red railings, he waited for the first fight to commence.

 _Sasuke vs Yoroi_

To his bemusement things had played our fairly the same, though to him it was clear that hidden plant was actually holding back, it wouldn't do for the famed Uchiha to not make it to the finals and deter the invasion plans. However the untrained eye _would not_ be able to detect this leaving many to believe that the victor was skilled.

The events however placated any worries that he had, the future had not been changed so drastically yet meaning that they still had the upper hand.

"See that _dobe,_ you wont be able to win like that."

"SHUT IT, I CAN AND I WILL BELIEVE IT."

Inwardly Naruto winced, his own voice was hurting him, years of war had taught him favor silence and all the advantages that came along with it.

Shrugging of Kakashi's hand that attempted to restrain him from attacking Sasuke, he walked of towards team 10 hoping that the Nara was awake.

"For God's sake how much do you sleep."

Lazily the accused boy peered up at him, stretching languidly like a cat.

"I spent five days in a forest with no sleep, I deserve to be lazy."

Thankfully nobody noticed them signing to each other, not that they would understand, only anbu or higher ups were privy to that specific skill as it helped relay information without the lower ranks finding out.

 _What should we now?_

 _Let the events play out, the results are almost the same, if the matches seem to be playing out in the wrong persons favor we'll interfere._

 _How?_

 _Subtly, genjutsu should do the trick, minor chakra disruptions should work as long as neither of the hyuuga's have their byakugan activated._

The next match is Temari vs Shikamaru!"

Wait, what?


	8. Preeliminaries

Naruto stood in a stunned silence as Hayate made the announcement, _that_ match was not suppoused to happen until the finals.

Creating yet another problem, if this match commenced then that means suna wouldn't have time to stall, the sole purpose for the three sand siblings making it into the finals was to set the invasion plans into place, but with only 2 making it, being gaara and kankuro, and one forfeiting to not reveal to many skills, the entire timeline would had to have changed.

Damn it he was nervous. Chewing on his bottom lip, he watched as his friend made his way down the staircase,skilfully hiding his surprise.

The only good thing in the current situation was that they knew how Temari fought,meaning that they knew how to out manouver her.

"You're not winning against me you lazy bastard!"

"Listen, I don't wanna be here but there's no reason for a man to lose to a woman."

Naruto face palmed as he watched his friends purposely rile up the suna kunoichi, was he really trying to make things harder for himself?

" _Kamaitachi no_ _jutsu."_

A look of disgust crossed Temari's face, she wasn't about to let that second grade shinobi defeat her.

" _Kagemane no jutsu,"_

Smirking, the Nara took control of her movements and flung the battle fan away. He might been advantaged in the arena in the previous arena due to his lack of chakra and shadow range, but in the dark stadium Shikamaru was right in his element.

" _Success."_

Blue eyes watched in amusement as the rookies watched gob smacked as Shikamaru bested Temari.

"Without your fan you're practically useless, and it seems that while fighting in the forest you lost all of your kunai and shuriken,"

His eyes glimmered with amusement.

"Meaning you have no choice but to forfeit."

Temari spluttered in outrage, but had no time to reply as the proctor named Shikamaru the victor.

The electric board flashed as it began deciding the next match, _hopefully_ the rest of the matches would stay the same so he could leave, watching the other contestants fall in the forest and having the sounds of ongoing battles around him was taking a toll on his mental health. Everytime he would hear kunais clash or see a shuriken fly past him, his nerves kicked in.

If he didn't get that under control before the finals, his instincts would react to any form of danger presented to him, completely blowing his cover.

" _Sakura vs Ino"_

Unintentionally he winced, he had no desire to watch that cat fight. Both Kunoichi were evenly paired, throwing their training aside they barely reached genin level. If anyone was to predict the match without the knowledge that he possessed, they would have believed that the Yamanaka had the upper hand with the family jutsu.

 _"Shintenshin no jutsu"_

But with that it didn't raise her chances as she wasn't proficient enough in using the technique for it to be useful in a fight. Paired with Sakura's will power the jutsu was rendered useless.

Leading to the _brawl_ that they were witnessing.

"NOT TODAY INO-PIG!"

As Sakura pushed the blonde out of her mind, simultaneously they fell to the floor with a thud.

As expected the final desicion was a draw, as both had collapsed and failed to show _any_ qualities needed to be a chuunin. He sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day, his heart yearning to see the powerful women that they would become however there was still time to grow and Naruto would make sure there skills would flourish in due time.

"Kiba vs Naruto"

 _Finally,_ it was time to kick some ass and get the hell out of there.

"Hurry up and come down deadlast, or are you scared?"

"Shut it mutt, you watch how I beat you."

The vessel fully intended to show strategy and skills in his fight, he would not from genin to Hokage in a day, getting the respect of his superiors would greatly benefit him. Beating Kiba would be easy, the Inuzuka clan treated their animal familiars as partners not tools to be thrown around, by threatening Akamaru he would ultimately loose his cool and attack recklessly.

Digging into his pouch he found what he was looking for, _smoke bombs._ While it wouldn't deter his opponent due to his hieghtened senses it would allow him to throw out a more _foul_ smelling bomb at the same time so that he could throw Kiba of his trail and set up his traps.

"HA Those things wont stop me!"

Atleast that was what he thought, but the minute the bombs exploded the brown haired nin found himself gagging unable to stab the stench.

Using the boys sickness to his advantage, Naruto swiped the dog from beside him. The dust slowly cleared revealing the orange wearing holding Akamaru with a knife against his throat.

"Forfeit or he dies _mutt."_

He could hear gasps from the spectators, knowing that it was cruel he hoped that the other would give up.

"Fine, I forfeit this match."

Anger brimmed in Kiba's eyes as he watched Naruto let go of his dog, but was left confused when the other spoke.

"I wasn't actually going to kill him you know,"

His head tilted in confusion.

"I've seen your clan around with their dogs and know the bond you have is closer to partners, not a _pet_ or _tool,_ riling you up was my ticket to victory, you wouldn't let Akamaru get hurt not while you were alive."

Gratefulness flooded Kiba along with curiousity, since when had Naruto been so smart and insightful?

Unaware to the other genins thoughts, the Namikaze heir walked away glad that it was all over. The sooner things were done the better.

His match was over now all he had to do was keep an eye out for any other changes. Exhaustion washed over him as he slumped down onto the floor ignoring the incredulous looks sent his way.

He was tired, _so fucking tired,_ but he didn't know what of.

 **A/N I suck at writing fight scenes so until I improve and go back and edit these subpar paragraphs will have to do**

 **I'm also over the preeliminaries so were moving on -- to the one month time skip**


	9. One month time skip

The sky above him was a dark grey, clashing with his mood as he sat in turmoil. Barely progressing within the month that had been given, Naruto found himself at lose unable to understand what to do. Hitting an all time low when around Jiraiya it became startling clear that there were skills that he lacked, mainly in fuinjutsu which would be crucial.

But it wasn't like he could go shoutinf about that he was a time traveller, especially not to the Hokage's own student, he'd be shipped of to TI without a second glance. Sighing dejectedly, he made his way out of the field he'd been laying in absentmindedly brushing off the grass stuck to his trousers, deciding that he'd pay his friend a visit who'd hopefully been more successful in his msuinf that he had.

His walk to the Nara compound was quiet, bordering silent, as the warm afternoon had already begun shifting into the cool night. The chill in the air caused the hairs on his skin to stand up. He quickened his pace. Row by row tall houses stood along a broad path until at the end sat a large yet modest household belonging to the clan head.

Tentavily knocking on the door, he waited until he could hear hurried foot steps rushing to the door.

"SHIKAMARU GET DOWN HERE!"

Yoshino's voice echoed down the hallway awakening the sleeping Nara. The boy had tried to sleep only to be disturbed by his mothers voice demanding him to be in her presence. Outside the clan walls Naruto chuckled upon hearing the Matriach's loud wake up call, amusement danced in his eyes as he imagined his friends annoyance.

Sighing quietly the lazy boy made his way down the stairs, noting that his 'afternoon nap' had crossed over into the evening.

"Your friends here, why don't you come say hello."

Naruto's bright blue eyes greeted him as he made his was to the door, beneath what others would see as childish curiosity, were calculating eyes scanning the house for threats and potential escape routes.

"It's a bit late Shika, is he staying over?"

"Yes Mum, I forgot to tell you I suppose."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he watched in amusement as his mother huffed in irration before proceeding to smother his friend.

"You're awfully thin arn't you? Did you eat today? Come sit down,"

He chuckled quietly at the bewildered look on the blondes face,

"We haven't eaten dinner yet you can join us! It's been awhile since you last came round hasn't it."

Making his way into the dining room he found his father sat with his head on the table sleeping. Cracking a grin he went and sat opposite him waiting for his mum to come barging in having a fit on how rude he was being.

"Maa no need to hit me Yoshino-chan."

 _"WHO ARE YOU CALLING CHAN NOW LAZYASS!"_

Giggles erupted from the teens throat as he watched the pair argue playfuly, dinner had then been a calm affair with few questions, a calm silence descending upon the group.

Yawning quietly, the blue eyed boy shyly accepted Yoshino's offer to stay over, blushing at her overprotectiveness. In his timeline he didn't have the chance to form a bond with her as she resided in the village away from the war, the warmth she had raidiated caused something to flutter in his chest. _He had never known what the love of a parent felt like._

Shikamaru's room was just as he had remembered from the last time he had visited, a few piles of mess littered around the room giving the room a taste of the boys nature.

"What's wrong?"

A thin brown eye brow was raised as he stared at his friend in worry, the other never made visits so sudden unless he was worried.

" Do you think that we should just get rid of Kabuto _now?"_

Startled his eyes widened as the words seemed to tumble out the others mouth, anxiety clear in his voice.

"What brought this on?"

" There's still so much left to learn, getting rid of a massive potential threat would buy us so much _time,"_

But what if something goes wrong, what then?"

"Trust me on this will you? I did plan ahead."

"Yh? Go on the tell me."

He did have a plan, for the past couple weeks he had shadow clones trail the traitor around like anbu, carefully noting down every movement and studying his behaviour to perfection. Foolishly the 'boy' let his gaurd down during the night hours thinking that no one knew of his betrayal, striking at the dead of night and covering their tracks would remove him from sight without anyone knowing any better.

" This better work Naruto, or we're _screwed."_

Yakushi Kabuto lay soundly sleeping in his small apartment room. Unaware of the numerous mistakes he already made.

The first being leaving the window open, by doing so it had made it less of a challenge to make it into his room. Knowing from experience, being able to _shunshin_ into an open space closer to their victims made them infinitly more vulnerable.

Slipping in quietly, he soundlessly reached our for a kunai in his pouch and brought it down onto the traitors neck. With his hand placed firmly on the others mouth, he shoved it into his jugular.

 _Quick and disappointingly far less painless than he would've liked._

Now there was Shikamaru's role, to heal to wound and get rid of the scar. Normally medical ninjutsu wouldn't be able to remove scarring, but Naruto mused, he had seen in the war that when he's comrades used to kyuubi's chakra none of their injuries were visible later on.

 _So,_ the Nara healed, he could summon some of the demons chakra, only a little so that the anbu wouldn't be alerted, and _tada_ job done.

Whoever found Kabuto the next day would never be able to figure out how he died.

"Now listen kid I'm MASTER JIRAIYA, THE GREAT TOAD SAGE!"

"You're a good for nothing pervert!"

" A SUPER PERVERT, DON'T UNDERMINE ME!"

Naruto sighed, trust _him_ to say that.

" Can we train now?"

Jiraiya looked at the boy inquisitively, the boy infront of him was far more different than the reports that he had been given over the years.

"Give up kid, you ain't gonna beat a genius with skills like yours!, no amount of training in _one month_ will do any good!"

" Then teach me manipulation or tactics Goddamn it! Let me out manoeuvre him!"

Once more the white haired males eyes flashed in curiosity,

"You know how to play shogi kid?"

Jiraiya, to put it frankly, was baffled.

There was no _way_ this puny kid had beat him in shogi, that game took intelligence, which he suppousedly didn't have.

"Why do you look so surprised pervy-sensei?"

"How'd you do it?"

"Well I kinda figured it out ya know? Faced it like it was a mission and protected the 'king' which for me is konoha and its children, _the future_ ya know!"

God bless Shikamaru for explaining Asuma's words to him or he'd have to use an excuse shittier than Kakashi's.

" _Again."_

"What?"

"We're playing again."

"Alright alright, don't get your panties in a twist!"

" _SHUT UP BRAT!"_

 ** _A/N I don't even know what this is, at this rate with my head filled with just about no ideas on how to continue this, this might just be the last chap atleast for a week or 2_**


	10. Chunin exams and Invasion

**_A/N Brief over view of chunin exams, really want to move on because this one arc is making me want to just quit writing it, its been dragging on and its about time to say goodbye to it._**

 _Song- When the party's over by Billie Eilish._

 _Don't you know I'm no good for you_

 _He could feel his eyes on him, how careless could he have been to have become such a person? He berated himself quietly in the deep confines of his mind, a lone tear sliding down his cheek. A hollow feeling engulfing him as the reality of who he was suffoucated him so harshly he felt like he couldn't breath._

 _His throat burned with words he couldn't dare allow leave. Dreamed of a day were he could let go of everything holding him back._

 _The insults, lack of attention, his own lack of knowledge._

 _I've learned to lose you, can't afford to_

 _An annoying thought kept drifiting into his head, what would his team think of him? Wasting away in a rundown apartement with nothing to his name._

 _Broken laughter escaped from his lips, deep down he knew they never really cared for him. Sasuke was so much talented and even he knew would excel far beyond what he would ever be capable of, a genius in his own right. Sakura would flourish into becoming a respectable kunoichi, time would fix her ways, one day she would grow out if her obsessions and find a path more suited towards her._

 _He didn't even have to think about Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi with his legendary reputation, a sensei he looked upto, to guide him towards a road of success no matter what obstacle before him._

 _He couldn't help feel slightly betrayed, everytime he reached out for help, he'd be sidelined for more important duties hearing the same excuse over and over but no improvement._

 _His throat burned from the liquor._

 _Quiet when I'm coming home and I'm on my own I could lie, say I like it like that_

 _He once wondered what it'd be like to have someone truely care for him._

 _It was a world with no limits before him, his naive gaze telling him he'd have nothing to keep him from achieving his dreams._

 _What a fool I'd been._

 _To think that by never believing in failure there was no once who could bring him down. But he was failed when his team thought of him as nothing more but a nuisance, when the acadmeny failed to give him an adequete education, failed as konoha allowed the fourth's legacy to be scorned._

 _He screamed in agony, his heart hurting. Wanting to apologise for everything he was never able to give them. Wanted to say sorry because he couldn't save them and maybe never would._

The dream startled him, sweat blanketed his skin as his body shook, the thumping of his heart pounding in hus ears. He had no time to waste.

The crowd roared as time seemed to have slowed. The contestants had yet to begin any of their fights leaving them on edge for what was to come. Dangerous oponents had made it through to the finals.

Sabaku no Gaara being on of them. It was no secret to any shinobi or civillian that he was a ruthless killer, undeniable even then one of Suna's best shinobi. Ultimately it had been decided that the pairings forthe fights would be decided through the same way as the previous preeliminaries to not let either change have an advantage.

" _Sabaku no Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha"_

It was to no surprise that this fight would take place, however neither Shikamaru or Naruto would have predicted that it would happen so soon.

" _Can Sasuke Uchiha make his way to the arena."_

He's late." The Nara sneered as he thought of the genins arrogance, he tried staying neutral when the topic of the raven haired boy came up, but with Konoha's already weakened military state due to peace time, he found his patience to be waning.

"But would they cancel?" Blue eyes peered at his companion, wondering if recent events would alter the time like even more.

"May-"

" _Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified, the mext round will commence shortly"_

"Damn I guess so, probably didn't want to risk losing their precious bloodline to Suna."

Naruto thought for a moment, what the othe rhad said made sense, this early on with Sasuke only recently attaining his Sharingan it made sense for the billage to take precautions in keeping him safe. But it didn't mean that the boy would appreciate or understand the actions.

But he hadn't thought that _no_ fight would be taken place today.

A genjutsu made its way veiling the arena, and slowly the spectators began drifting off to sleep.

 _"Release"_

A flurry of movement began as shinobi fought to protect their own, jonins began giving tasks to any able genin or chunin nearby trying to ensure the safety of their village.

If Gaara can't fight that means the invasions been pushed foward, for God's sake why didn't we think of that?"

Quickly they ran throught the trees in hopes of finding the jinchuuriki before he was able to complete his transformation.

( **Dialogue heavy ending)**

"Gaara _stop!"_

"Why? What would I gain from not killing you? _**Mother** wants your blood_

No It's NOT YOUR MOTHER, Its the demon inside of you trying to take control Gaara, You know that."

"Do **n't DENY MY EXISTANCE KYUUBI"**

"Don't let him take control of you, think Gaara of all the love you have around you"

A confused look came open the suna shinobi's face.

"love? WHAT LOVE? I HAVE NO ONE."

"YES YOU DO, YOU HAVE YOUR SIBLINGS WAITING TO RESCUE YOU, WAITING TO FIGHT FOR YOU THATS WHAT LOVE IS"

"I-"

"WILL YOU DENY THEIR EXISTANCE? WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT DO? YOU FIGHT FOR THEM BECAUSE THATS WHAT PROTECTS YOU GAARA, LOVE"

"I believe I understand Uzumaki Naruto, I will fight not only to protect them but you aswell as you've shown me the light."

 **(And some sappy bs from canon blah blah moving on)**

 **Ive seen alot of people favourite this and didn't want to dissapoint by being one of them writers that dissapears so here you go! I'm sorry that there may be a few mistakes but it's unedited and will be looked through later.**

 **Till next time.**


	11. Note

Now while im not sure it there's anyone still left waiting for an update or even mildly enjoyed the mediocore writing that the few chapters provided, I'd like to say that its been too goddamn long since I looked at this story and suffice to say that this really sucks, **but** being extremely stubbourn i've found myself unwilling to abandon it, so while its 3am and hardly the best time to write, I looked through chapter 1 and altered it slighlty, some new sentances and less spelling and grammer (hopefully!)

Its an unfortunate time right now and lockdown's left me with an abundance of time, leaving me with little to do as schools have been closed, saying that, I wrote this story when I was scavanging this site for every possible time travel fic and subsequently the hight of my interest, staying true to my bio I wrote this merely to indulge the ideas in my head itching to write it down but found that maybe it sounded better in my head as i aggresively came up with scenarios while listning to my playlist. I'll admit while I know where I want this to go, a plot is yet to be solidified. So, i'll try getting round to editing those other chapters and hopefully they'll be slightly longer while I try get my head around how jutsu's work and the confusing ninja politics again!

Till next time lads, stay home!

11/4/2020


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